492: The Angry Birds Movie

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: 199. Let's get to the bonus reviews which first one is The Angry Birds Movie, the

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_00]: first one from 2016 and then I will be doing Angry Birds Movie 2. It is directed

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: by Clay Katis, Fergal Riley, stars Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Rudolph, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage, Sean Penn, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon,

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Tony Hill, list goes on and on and on. And the synopsis is when an island

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: populated by happy flightless birds is visited by mysterious green pigs it's

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: up to three unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: So I just figured there were a few different franchises that I could have

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: covered or standalone films that were like Garfield but this one is sort of

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: under the radar hasn't been talked about that much really that I could find and I

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: don't know what other franchises or shows that I would pair it up with so

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: hey figured why not. I think there are a few interesting things to say about it

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: for better and for worse. But backstory with Angry Birds, I've never been a

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: mobile game guy I just I know I can't keep focus whether it's ADHD or what I

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: don't know I just cannot really play a mobile game consistently and so even

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: though there are some that seem really fun and enjoyable I just can't do it.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why but I was always aware of Angry Birds I know a lot of people

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: who did play it and people who are obsessed with it and so was very much in

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: the ballpark and of knowledge of all that just never was with it firsthand.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And when they announced the movie I was like okay cool like I'll check it out

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: why not the cast is pretty darn stacked like pretty impressive for a movie like

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_00]: this and as I said with Garfield films I love talking animals so another

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: incentive to go and watch it. And before getting into the actual review itself

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and I guess it sort of relates to Garfield but especially with something

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: like this where there is no story to this game it's always interesting to me

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: when someone can make a story out of nothing or it shows you when there is

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: no story and they don't take the time to actually create a story and it's just

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: nothing. And I think a good example of what's done well is Barbie recently

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: where Barbie has no story there's no plot and they came up with a pretty

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: interesting relatable kind of concept and so that's definitely one of the

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: better recent examples. But this one it's of course more geared towards kids but I

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: am fine watching a film like this I don't care and there doesn't need to be

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: a huge story but you could do whatever you want with it. It really just depends

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: on who you give this to and who the writers are who the directors are and

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: all that and for this first film it definitely could be a lot worse. I

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: actually do not mind this movie. Hot take maybe. I know some people really trash on

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: it but I really don't think it's that bad. There are some big issues that I'll

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: get to but when I saw in the theaters I saw this one and the second one in

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: theaters no shame there I saw it and maybe it's because I had low

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: expectations I don't know but I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Probably the best thing and it could sort of be taken for granted nowadays with

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: studios like Pixar and Laika things like that but the animation quality wise

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: fantastic. Like I love the animation in this the look of the feathers on the

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: birds the colors like it's so vibrant and really maybe at times too vibrant

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: but I really really like the look of both of these films

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and especially when it comes to the birds the only design aspect which is

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: sadly a big part of the movie that I don't love is the pigs. I think the pigs

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: despite the cool green neon green look to them I really find the design overall

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to be pretty boring and just not really interesting to look at so I think that

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: is a failure and I know that they're going partly off the games but I think

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: they did a much better job with the birds than the pigs so the villains

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: sadly are the worst part. I think the idea of what really got me hooked at

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: the beginning was and it's an obvious choice but it works is Jason Sudeikis

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: who is great having anger problems he is an angry bird so he has anger

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: problems and him exploding and not being able to control his temper and having to

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: go to therapy and meditation all that stuff I think that was funny and so the

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: first act is to me where it peaks because it was more just hanging out

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: with the birds there wasn't this big plot going on it was just him dealing

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: with his emotions that was interesting to me

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's just that once that goes away the movie becomes less interesting and

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: much more generic. I just feel like they said all right let's give a little boost

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: at the beginning here give them a little character and then we got to get into

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: stuff that will keep the kids hooked keep the parents coming and bringing

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: their kids and that's you know I get it it is what it is it's not nothing

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: offensively bad I just wish the rest of the movie was as funny as the first act

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but some specifics as I said Jason Sudeikis I love him in

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: everything Danny McBride really good Maya Rudolph like everybody is very

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: solid except for and I know I have the same kind of issue with Chris Pratt but

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Josh Gad cannot stand I think he is I don't know why he keeps getting work I

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: think he is terrible I just always find him to be obnoxious and really not

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: sincere I just find him to be very phony in really all of his roles so not a fan

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: at all of him in the movie I like the look of the bird he plays like they're

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: very vibrant yellow I love that and I really like the look of Danny McBride's

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: big blackbird that's really good and the overall look of the island too like

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: if we're talking animation fantastic really good like the quality the lighting

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: and the shadows and I really cannot get enough of that I just wish there's more

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: exploration with all that because that's what I'm honestly that's what is

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: gonna make me go see the third one whenever that comes out which I think

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: it's in development already but besides that some specific scenes

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that I enjoy to a certain degree is when they meet the eagle and he's peeing I

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: know some people are like grossed out by but actually find it kind of funny sorry

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: not sorry sort of thing and the three main birds are just gawking at him like

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: completely disgusted I think that's pretty funny maybe not appropriate for

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: kids but I think for me it was funny the homage callback to the actual game

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: itself where they slingshot the birds across the island when they're in the

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: big climactic fight I enjoyed that I think that's fairly well done it's not

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: so injected in for no reason or without any kind of motivation it's there

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: because the story and plot makes sense and so they did that well

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's not too long it's a little obnoxious sometimes like a little too

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: loud too noisy as I like to say sometimes when discussing animated films

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: especially kids films also the birthday party sequence is

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: funny towards the beginning and that whole kind of chase sequence I think is

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: pretty good so it's fairly accessible like you don't have to have any

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: knowledge of Angry Birds to get into it maybe it'll turn off more adults than

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: others but there's enough charm there for me to rewatch it every so often and

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: just being in that world is kind of fun for some reason even though I don't play

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: the game it's just fun and kind of a comfort I guess and I'll be curious to

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: see what they do with three I'm hoping they continue to build the world because

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: there's you know you could do anything so why not just go all out with the

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00]: world-building and characters and all that stuff so I think that's cool and

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: exciting I don't know if we'll get anything that great but we'll see

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: so that one is a 3 out of 5